VALDOSTA, Ga.- Valdosta State volleyball (9-7, 3-3 GSC) is back in action this weekend when it hits the road to take on Gulf South Conference foes Trevecca Nazarene and Lee. The Blazers will face off with the Trojans of Trevecca Nazarene for the first time on Friday evening at 7 p.m. ET before turning their attention to the Lee Flames on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
 
All the Blazer volleyball action will be available on vstateblazers.com where links can be found for live stats and streaming. Video streaming is offered through FloSports with a paid subscription. For more information on how to subscribe and watch nearly every Valdosta State athletic event, see here.
 
The Blazers are coming off a perfect 2-0 home stretch last weekend when they defeated the likes of Mississippi College and West Alabama at The Complex. On Friday, Valdosta State earned a hard-fought 3-1 victory over the Choctaws before claiming a quick three-set win over West Alabama on Saturday. For the weekend, seniors Jojo Smith and Christina Pettigrew led the Blazer offensive attack, accounting for 43 of Valdosta State's 84 total kills over both games. Smith tallied a total of 22 kills while hitting .200 for the homestretch. She also recorded her fifth double-double of the season on Friday evening, racking up 16 kills and 18 digs. Meanwhile, Pettigrew delivered 21 kills over the weekend, swinging for .212 while also accounting for three solo blocks. The pair also had a successful weekend on the serve, with both Smith and Pettigrew tallying five aces apiece. Senior Mackenzie Murray also had a strong showing offensively, racking up 18 total kills while hitting for an impressive .364 in the 3-0 win over UWA.
 
For the season, Smith currently leads the Blazers on the offensive front, sitting at 176 kills on the year for 3.03 kills a set. She also ranks tenth in VSU history in the category with 1108 career kills. Senior setter Audrey Bennett currently sits at sixth in the conference in assists with 430 on the year while she currently ranks seventh in VSU history with 1681 assists as a Blazer. Meanwhile, Pettigrew leads the Blazers in aces with 23 while junior Katie Callenberger leads the Blazers in blocks with 35 total rejections including 17 solo blocks. Senior libero Kaia Baker currently ranks third in the conference in total digs with 287 total for a league-best 5.04 digs per set.
 
As the newest member of the Gulf South Conference, Trevecca Nazarene sits at 8-11 overall with a 5-3 conference record heading into this weekend's matchup. The Trojans recently defeated Auburn Montgomery 3-1 in Nashville on Saturday afternoon, bouncing back from a gritty 3-2 loss to Lee on Thursday. Trevecca Nazarene is under the direction of head coach Emily Moore who is 83-77 in her sixth season with the Trojans. This matchup is also notable because it will mark the first showdown between Valdosta State and Trevecca Nazarene in recorded history.
 
The strength of the Trojans lies in their defensive ability as they rank second in the conference in both total blocks (170) and blocks per set (2.39). Individually, Trevecca has three players who rank in the top ten in the GSC in blocks including Reese Payne who ranks second with 83 total blocks, Mackenzie O'Loughlin who ranks third with 76 total rejections and Emma Titus who comes in at seventh with 47 blocks this season. The trio also leads the TNU offense with Titus sitting at a team-best 191 kills while O'Loughlin has tallied 163 and Payne has recorded 131.
 
Lee enters the weekend with an impressive 11-9 record with a 5-3 mark in the GSC after defeating Trevecca Nazarene and Auburn Montgomery in a pair of five-set battles at home last weekend. The Flames are under the direction of head coach Christa Fabre who is 28-24 in her second season as the leader of the Lee volleyball program. Valdosta State holds the narrow-edge in the matchup history with Lee, sitting at 10-9 since 2013. The Blazers most recently defeated Lee in a three-set contest in Cleveland last season.
 
As a team, Lee currently sits at the top of a few major categories in the Gulf South Conference including first in kills (952), first in digs (1081), first in service aces (166) and second in hitting percentage (.230) just to name a few. Individually, Sara Palumbo ranks first in the league in kills with 244 on the year while Carmen Perez ranks first in service aces with 39. Meanwhile, defensively, Izzy Denton ranks first in total digs in the league with 292 this season.
 
Following this weekend's thrilling matchups, the Blazer volleyball team will return home for a quick pitstop, taking on Auburn Montgomery on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in The Complex before heading back out to Tennessee to take on Union and Christian Brothers in a four-match weekend. For more information on those matchups as well as everything Valdosta State volleyball, visit vstateblazers.com and head to the volleyball schedule page.